Florida State and Ohio State are in position to play for the BCS national championship, though Auburn and Missouri are close enough behind in the BCS standings to put pressure on the Buckeyes.

The Seminoles grabbed the top spot in the BCS standings released Sunday after Alabama relinquished it for the first time this season.

The Crimson Tide’s wild 34-28 loss at Auburn dropped Alabama to fourth. Ohio State is second and Auburn is third. Missouri is fifth. Auburn and Missouri play in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday in Atlanta. The winner should get a boost in the standings, but it might not be enough to catch the unbeaten Buckeyes.

Ohio State (12-0) faces Michigan State, 10th in the latest standings, in the Big Ten championship game Saturday in Indianapolis.

Florida State is first in both the USA Today coaches’ poll and Harris poll, and rated No. 1 in the compilation of six computer rankings used in the BCS standings.

The Seminoles’ .9948 BCS average makes them a lock to get to the title game in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 6 if they can beat Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday.

The Buckeyes (.9503) are second in the polls and second in the computers. Auburn (.9233) is third in each. Missouri (.8428) is fifth in each. But each of those SEC Tigers is 11-1. Ohio State is riding a 24-game winning streak.

An unbeaten team from a BCS automatic-qualifying conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Big East, now American Athletic Conference) has never been shut out of national championship game in favor of a team with a loss.

The SEC, which has won the last seven BCS championships, would like that to change.

“Any one-loss team in the SEC [should be considered] just because of the strength of schedule,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Hopefully that will be taken into consideration.”

Jerry Palm, who analyzes the BCS for CBS.com, said there is no reason to expect the unprecedented to happen.

“I think the voters would have to abandon Ohio State, and that’s never happened in the history of the BCS,” he said Sunday.

Alabama (.8539) is fourth but the Tide would need both Florida State and Ohio State to lose to get back in the title conversation.

The BCS is in its last season. It will be replaced by a four-team playoff next year, which will use a selection committee to pick the teams.

What's Your Take?

Great piece...facts, numbers and opinion, in quotes no less...kudos, AP...wouldn't it be fantastic if this kind of reportage made a return? From this report there could be many columns...for instance, will status of FSU QB have any impact on national title game?...will ejected OSU players play, or not, vs. Michigan State?